DonYan!!
Well, the idea for "Always" was a good one... and they actually went through all kinds of hoops to install cameras in the FS leadplanes at the time. The lead guys AND girls go in and fly the drop before the tanker goes down in the tight areas, you check out the air, the exits, routes, wires, smoke, visibility, turbulence, etc. We were all thrilled to think that MAYBE, MAYBE, FINALLY, they would make a "fire movie" that was actually somewhat close to the truth.
We all went to see it when it came out -- a HUGE crowd of us fire pukes -- of course having a few brewskis along the way to the theatre. We were SO jacked, because we all knew the great fire shots the leads would have gotten on the drops. That opening scene with the Catalina just PROVED how GOOD it was going to be -- man, we were so wound up! I'm surprised anyone stayed in the theatre with us wild animals all hooting like idiots.
Unfortunately, that PBY shot was THE LAST accurate thing in the movie.. what a load of crappola.. I could go on and on for ages but won't. Let's just say that it was so screwed up, and 100% Hollywood BS. We were SO disappointed.. one of my leadplane buddies was FURIOUS... he was going to go find the movie liaison guy and choke him... all the good, and really awesome fire shots, were never used. The ground shots were even more laughable, we were all so disgusted, but it is considered a good joke movie to put on when you have a lot of kegs of beer to drink. I mean, don't get me wrong, I love it just for the campy factor.
Soo.... we laughed and ridiculed the entire movie, some of the guys left the theatre to go to the bars, oh well, that's what you get I guess. As for the real thing, drop heights are supposed to be 150 to 200 feet above the area burning, that can get pretty thrilling in bad air in mountainous terrain and I personally hold most of those tanker guys as the best pilots I have ever seen. A few guys I know have done that for 30+ years and have never hurt an airplane. I also know many excellent guys who are dead too. I have ridden jumpseat with them, (it is really something to be in a P-3 squeezing down into a tight canyon in thick smoke in bad air) and was honored to be their leadplane for some years, it was ONE LEARNING experience, if you think OLD PILOTS don't have more flight knowledge in their little fingers than some young guy, well..... I was fortunate to get to work with them and I still enjoy going on the same fires with them all.
So, that movie wasn't at all accurate, but it is still a thrilling work environment, sometimes an ugly one, and never boring down there close to the ground. The smaller, single-engine tankers drop at lower heights than the heavies; they have 500-750 gallons, compared to 2400 or so for the heavies. The lower you go, the more accurate your drop, but that retardant is snotty and slimy and heavy, and you have to have enough height for it to fall into the burning fuel as particles, not huge globs. So, a drop that is too low can often do the fire no good, though it will cut a rut in the ground that is 3 feet deep, will snap big trees like toothpicks, and can kill you on the ground in a second. So, going too low just makes everyone mad, and going too high is useless, so it's a constant job to be at the perfect height (usually the 150'), and you're almost always in steep, rough terrain. And, you can't run into all those big things in front of you called mountains.
And, people forget, all the aircraft work for the fire people on the GROUND, so it is a constant conversation to try to deliver your aerial product where they want it. It's a give-and-take -- sometimes they haven't even had a good view of the whole fire, especially in heavy timber, and the eyes from above can recommend a different plan. Often, the first words out of their mouths are a request for a "size-up". It all works out.......
Gee, I think I'd better go find my copy of "Always" and check it out again. You've made me nostalgic!!!!
P.S. That is an UNREAL story about the crash with the racehorses aboard... man!!! I will have DREAMS about THAT one!!!
